A Brief Introduction to Functional Harmony

When it comes to the study of musical harmony, there is a great deal of misunderstanding surrounding the term “functional harmony.” At its core, functional harmony is a system of musical harmony that creates progressions and chord movements that work together to strengthen and support the underlying melody or song. This is why functional harmony has been an integral part of music composition over many centuries.

In simple terms, functional harmony is defined as a system of harmonic or chord theory that allows for natural progression within music by establishing principles for the placement of chords within a musical work. The chords are ordered based on the strength of their function, which creates tension and release of musical ideas.

To better understand functional harmony, it’s important to first recognize the roles of the three main note categories within music: tonic, dominant, and subdominant. The tonic note is the starting note or “root” of any given key and functions to provide a center of gravity around which the harmony revolves. The dominant note is the fifth note in any given key and acts as an anchor point with a strong sense of resolution within the music. Finally, the subdominant note is the fourth note in the key and holds an important role as it sets up tension before moving to the tonic note.

These three categories of note serve as the foundation for functional harmony, which then can be augmented with added notes to fit a composer’s creative vision. Through a combination of cadences, cadenzas, and arpeggios, the composer can create a vast array of different sounds.

To learn more about functional harmony and how it can be used to compose music, different resources available offer further reading in the area. Through listening to a variety of pieces of music, one can also gain an understanding of how chords interact with each other to form progressions.

Overall, functional harmony is a highly acclaimed and thoroughly used musical technique that has been around for centuries. It serves as a backbone for musical composition as it can create tension and release within a musical piece. Understanding functional harmony and the roles of the constituent notes allows for musicians to create outstanding pieces of art.